forced some kind of a diplomatic break through on the north korean nuclear issue along with completing his mission of mercy. the two u.s. journalists were pardoned just hours after bill clinton arrived in north korea.white house still won't call it official. but the former president is clearly on a mission blessed by the obama administration. hillary clinton, the secretary of straight, has been demanding that north korea release u.s. journalists laura ling and euna lee sentenced by the north koreans in june to 12 years for illegal entry. in a statement, their families said they're overjoyed and counting the seconds to hold laura and yuna in our arms. free position the two was the main mission, but talks were wide ranging. and clinton got a meeting with kim jong-il. when clinton was president, former president jimmy carter went to north korea hnd helped cut a nuclear weapons ban. the deal slowly fell apart.

two months ago, the north tested a nuclear with that. can clinton help now? >> possibly he'll be back with a message that says they're ready to talk to us. that's about all we can expect. >> reporter: but the north koreans have notched a win. >> they're able to have a big missile test, a nuclear test, capture these two journalists and still got bill clinton to show up. you put it all together and it looks pretty good as a set of tactics by the north koreans. >>eporter: will sending bill clinton be a winning tactic by president obama is this an open question as the former president and his party left north korea. well here's the tally. lee and ling are pardoned. we think they're free. and the obama administration has reached out to north korea, a campaign promise by president clinton -- by president obama. and the white house was not directly involved. i'm teach handelsman. there's some concern that as many as 06 people may have been scammed by a funeral home.

police sayhose customers prepaid for funeral arrangements in fred riksburg, virginia, but the money they spent may have been used for something else. chris gordon is here now with more. >> reporter: fret ricksburg police say many of the victims are from northern virginia, matter land and sdwrikt. according to police, money was collected dating pack to the 1980s for what are called pre-need funerals. but the money may have been spent instead on personal and business expenses. police executed a search warrant at bailey funeral service in fred drinksburg, virginia on july 23rd collecting evidence that resulted in the arrest of the owner. he is 51-year-d ambrose bailey, a former council member and prominent business han. police tell us what their investigation has uncovered so far. >> we found a box of documents containing over 60 files, all related to prearranged funeral

services. and we at this point have 22 confirmed victims representing over $90,000 where their money was thought going into an escrow account as is legally required. >> reporter: on honest, fredericksburg police arrested ambrose bailey charging him with obtaining money by false pretense tenlss and violating the terms of a funeral contract. mr. bailey lives just up the street from his funeral home. we went there and asked him for a response. can these people put their mind at ease that they've paid for a funeral that they are going to get in. >> jess, ayes, sir, and any oth questions i'll refer to my attorney. >> yes, they count on getting funeral or have you as charged defrauded the public? >> it's never been my attention to defraud anyone. >> reporter: bailey's funeral service has been a fixture for 50 years. before ambrose bailey became the opera

operator, it was run by his father. he tells me that in his day, they didn't sell prepaid funerals. >> do you know if the money's been put aside for pre-need funeral contracts? >> i'm hoping that it is. >> and that the people who paid their money in advance will get the funerals that they paid for? >> yes. >> reporter: now, the investigation began when a 72-year-old woman read a news report that ambrose bailey has been charged by the virginia department of health with forging doctor's signatures on death certificates. she called the fredericksburg police department asking if the money she prepaid for her funeral was safe. as a result of that call, police got the search warrant for bailey's funeral home and personal residence. the woman tells police she no longer wants bailey to handle her funeral arrangements. now she says she just wapnts he money back. light rail is on track to become the newest edition to the metro system.

today martin o'malley announced his support for the highly anticipated purple line which would run from the bethesda metro station to new caro 16 mik e 21 passengers could transfer om crs tldransfer from metro to to trains. the project is expected to cost $1.5 billion. and opponents say they favor a bus transit system for environmental reasons. arguing light rail would ruin the crease sent trail. today o'malley's says his decision is in line with what local leaders line to help ease traffic. >> it was the product of a consensus that we built through this agreement we built a consensus through a public hearing process for this option. the purple line option that we're proposing will be sleek, it will be quiet, it will be low to the ground. this is not your grandfather's light rail. >> o'malley also announced a

plan to create a 14 mile red line through baltimore. if the purple line gets the proper approvals and funding, construction could begin in 2014 with service starting in 2018. consumer spending appears to be slowly recovering. according to the commerce department, consumer spending was up by 0 .4 of a% percent ine month of june. consumer spending is watched closely because it accounts for up it to 70% of the total u.s. economic activity. the stock market was up again today modestly. the dow jones industrial average was up 34 points. it closed at 9320. the hot weather is slowingci csx issued heatrsesiconti ic orders on the camden and brunswick lines. tr r weded uc educ speetds. ean maryl md transar ra tistmiayonrahes s t restrictions could cause delays that could range from 10 minutes

to 35 minutes. so will the heat stick with us tonight and tomorrow? let's check with bob ryan. >> certainly the humidity. it's a hot day, but nothing really exceptional. look at the temperature here. northwest washington, we made it up to 90 degrees. the record, by the way, 1930. 102. even at that, our temperature at 90 was only between degrees above our average. and now we're back into the 80s. it is humid and so the heat index makes it feel like it's into the low 90s. we'll be seeing more of that, that is hayes and humidity. tomorrow will be a little weak weather front, so i think there is a likelihood we'll have the risk of some afternoon thunderstorms and a heat wave, i think that could e building as we get on into the weekend. i'll tell you more about that and show issue incredible pictures of some terrible flooding today around kentucky. >> thank you, bob. >> the police in had d.c., maryland and virginia will take part in national night out tonight. the event is an effort to get

communities across the country involved in fighting crime in their neighborhoods. in d.c., all available police officers will be on duty to work with residents to celebrate a peaceful night they hope. this will be community cook out, openhouse, block parties among other events. and police are searching for ouan ce inorprge len ige's prince georinhe .t64hein 6400 blo ofadro ro peas w . one person was kill, ranothe is in critical condition. megan mcgrath reports. >> reporter: police gather evidence. the stairwell, a crime scene. following a deadly early morning shooting. according to police, an argument broke out just before 1:00 a.m. shots were fired and four people were struck by the flying bullets. one man was killed. another critically injured. two women suffered nonlife threatening injuries. >> i think it's pretty bad. normally this is a good complex.

but to come home to see this going on is kind of shocking. >> i've been here about eight years and this is the first time that someone that i know of in this area that's been shot. but it's everywhere. where can you go? you can't hide. it's always here. >> reporter: police cordoned off the parking will the lot as thed if witnesses. no word on what the argument was about. police say the shooting is an isolated incident. they say the gunman is an acquaintance of the victim. he was seen running from the scene. in oxen hill, megan mcgrath, news 4. police have not released the name of the suspect or the victims. coming up in the show tonight, we'll show what you happens to that clunker after you trade it in for a new fuel efficient car. trouble on the tracks when metro train door opens between stations. >> we'll tell why you some marines will not be allowed to use facebook anymore. and there is a new way to keep your kids safe just by using your cell phones. coming up if sport, incumbent punt returner for the

redskins antwaan randle elle fighting to keep his role. always al better haynesworth back on the football field. find out if jim zorn is worried about his ot

an airline pilot was killed, six others seriously injured when their plane skidded off a runway in thailand today.

it hit a traffic control tower. 72 people including the crew of the flight were on board. the twin turboprop was flying from another resort in southern thailand. it's not yet clear if any americans were on board. there is opposition tonight here in washington and across the country about whether to put an additional $2 billion into the popular cash for clunkers program. the government is giving consumers up to $4500 to trade in their gas guzzler for a more fuel efficient car. tonight critics are asking if the nation can afford to help more people buy new cars. tracie potts has our report. >> reporter: in st. louis today, protestors tried to disrupt a congress made's news conference touting the success of cash for clunkers. >> the billions we're spending we don't have. we're borrowing it from china. >> reporter: dealers have

already claimed more than half the billion dollars in government rebates that was supposed to last through october. today lawmakers promised another $2 billion this week. >> cash for clunkers will pass. >> when will do you that? >> before we leave here. >> reporter: chrysler sold so many cars dealers are running out. today the company stopped doubles reet bait. the government says more than 130,000 americans have traded for new cars. saving the typical buyer up to $1,000 a year on gas. ford rolling out its new taurus said it could boost the economy. clearly this h been a home run but at what cost? >> i'm not going to pass a bill on to our kids of 2 wld to buy a car today p about it's not fair to our children to keep doing this. >> reporter: and some ask is it fash just to help automakers. there are many people who are asking, well, why is that

industry being assisted when my industry isn't. >> reporter: so far just under half the cars sold in this program came from america's big three. now some economists say because these cars that are being sold are the least expensive on the market, it won't have a lasting impact on the economy until the government can also create more jobs and boost consumer confidence. from washington, tracie potts, news 4. so here's what happens to those clunkers once they trade them in. they wind up in places such as jack's auto parts if arlington. people there say they have crushed about 40 vehicles if just the laus few days. dealers are hoping that crushing continues because they won't see any federal money until the clunkers are officially destroyed. the program may be great for the auto industry, but not so great for another industry, actually jack's auto parts' primary business, the sale of used auto parts. >> people don't need to get a part to fix this car. so you're taking thousands of

cars off the street. so if the people don't need a part to fix it, we're out of business. >> he's got hundreds of clunkers just waiting to be towed from the area dealerships. authorities in n. france are investigating a deadly bush crash that occurred in the bar dough region around 3:00 in the morning. a tour bus veered off the road smashing through a highway divider before coming to rest on a bridge abutment. at least one passenger was killed, 20 others are were injured, including the driver. police say the bus was traveling from germany to portugal and most of the passengers were portuguese. a bus carrying about special special olympic athletes crashed in wisconsin this morning. two people were seriously hurt when that bus rolled on to its side. investigators say the driver lost control, slamming into a guardrail near the town 50 miles northeast of madison. the athletes were golfers and softball players returning from a trip to neb be in. the had 2-year-old driver and one athlete were last reported in serious condition.

the marine corps is banning troops from logging on to online social networking sites. they ce a possible security miskektd. they issued the order yesterday preventing marines from logging on to facebook, myspace and